Contact: Dan Hubbard at (202) 783-9360 or dhubbard@nbaa.org
Washington, DC, February 18, 2005 – National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen today issued the following statement concerning a meeting held today by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to discuss voluntary safety measures.
“Today, NBAA and other general aviation associations met with senior leadership at the FAA to discuss industry involvement in promoting safety. As an organization that has historically led the way in the development and promotion of best practices for business aviation, NBAA was pleased to participate in today’s meeting.
“It was clear from our discussion that FAA officials are especially interested in the voluntary programs developed by trade associations that establish high safety standards and guidelines. Of particular interest to the Agency was the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations program, which NBAA has been instrumental in developing.
“While we were pleased to discuss the work our Association does to promote best practices, we also reiterated our continuing concern about the methods FAA uses to track the safety record for business aviation. We believe the FAA’s overly broad categorization of our industry produces an unclear and misrepresentative depiction of the true safety record for business aircraft.
“This must be changed: until the FAA can provide clear data for analysis, the root causes of accidents cannot be clearly established. In other words, our concern is not just about numbers – it’s about having the information needed to ensure that effective decision-making takes place and the outstanding safety record for our industry is maintained.
“The FAA agreed to continue working with us over the coming months on matters related to safety, and I look forward to working with the FAA and other organizations on this matter of importance to our industry.”
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Founded in 1947, NBAA serves its 7,400 Member Companies by promoting the aviation interests of organizations utilizing business aircraft in the United States and worldwide. The association provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention, the world’s largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at www.nbaa.org.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.